Page 7 of Her Noble Protector

“And you were the last one to leave Miami because you were staying behind until someone showed up to claim her. I remember. Kane told me you had people getting you information on her, and the only person she had was an old boss, that right?”

“You remember all that?” Raiden asked.

“Raiden, when one of my men takes two additional days to stay with one of our mission victims, yeah, I’m going to remember. I’m even going to ask some questions because we’ve worked together five years. This is so far out of normal for you, that it is not in the same galaxy. Tell me what’s going on.”

“Lisa has been off the grid for five weeks now. Not a peep. Paula, the boss, left her in her house in Tempe. Due to some of her life getting in the way, she hasn’t stayed in touch. Neighbors haven’t seen her. She’s not communicating with anyone. Cami’s getting frantic.”

“I could see that. And you?”

Raiden did a gut check. He wasn’t frantic, but worried? Yeah, worry was one of the emotions roiling around inside him.

“I’ll cop to worried. Maybe more. I’ll know when I see her.”

“Raiden, it wasn’t easy for her down in Mexico. It was worse for her than Cami. Can you cope with that?”

“Yes, Max. Yes, I can.”

* * *

It was early December in Arizona. Raiden didn’t know a whole hell of a lot about plants, but he did know if a plant had died of neglect or not, and he was looking at an entire porchful of brightly colored pots of dead neglected flowers. He touched one dried bud and it disintegrated at his touch. He looked up and saw the blinds on either side of the door shut tight. Tighter than tight. He couldn’t imagine one ray of sunshine penetrating.

The big picture window that had to be for the living room was the same way. It almost looked like something had been shoved along the windowsill ensuring nobody could look in, or out.

Raiden debated how to start out. Ring the bell? Knock soft? Call out?

All of the above?

First, he tried the door. There was only a 99.9999 chance it would be unlocked, but he had to try. It was locked.

Raiden rang the doorbell and knew he’d be waiting in vain. He’d already called her cell phone countless times, but always went straight to a full mailbox. The texts showed that they were delivered, but who in the hell knew if she’d read them.

He waited three whole minutes, then rang the doorbell again.

Nothing.

He’d gotten into Tempe late last night and checked into a budget motel. There was no way he was going to arrive on her doorstep after dark; he’d really hoped that at ten in the morning he’d have more of a chance to get her to open up. He knocked on the door—softly, but loud enough to be heard.

He waited three minutes.

Nothing.

He knocked again, harder. He looked around the neighborhood. It was older; if he had to guess it had been built in the Eighties. Her tidy little stucco house was set back at the end of a cul-de-sac. It wasn’t as if the neighbors had a clear view of her front porch, but still, he was reluctant to just keep ringing and knocking. He stepped back a few steps and did even more of an evaluation of the house than he had walking up.

One-story rambler—kitchen, dining room, and living room up front. Those were easy calls. Carport to the side, with a door. He’d have to check that. Ford F-150 underneath. To really get a feel, he’d have to peruse the sides and back to get a sense of the rest of the place. Shit, maybe he should have come around last night, it would have made his reconnaissance a little easier. He took one last look around the neighborhood and made up his mind.

He went over to the carport. No doorbell, so he knocked. He was a little more out of sight, so he called out.

“Lisa? Are you in there? It’s me, Raiden Sato. I was with you in the hospital in Miami. Do you remember me?”

He waited, and as he expected, there was no answer.

Casually he went around the little path through her low water maintenance front yard made up of a lot of rocks and succulents. He got to the tall gate attached to the fence enclosing her backyard. He reached over to unlatch it and found that it was padlocked. By the heft of the lock, it was heavy-duty.

Hmmm, was it new?

The fence might be high, but nothing higher than what he encountered on the obstacle course. He was over it in seconds. He glanced at the padlock. Yep, it sure looked brand new. He took his time walking through the landscaped backyard. Again, it was low water maintenance, and it looked good the way she had it laid out.

There was a small patio with a pergola over it. She had quite the set-up, but it was for one person, not a party. One big comfy padded chair and ottoman in the shade, a nice teak table beside it, with an upside-down book resting on it. There was a lounger that wasn’t in the shade, also nicely padded, another low table beside that, no book.